New to Chick Life
In the Brooder
So we have 2 chicks and 2 eggs and a brooding hen in a communal laying area in the coop. We let our hens free roam our yard, and all has been well.
While the broody hen was out with her chicks, my mom decided to clean where she lays. This meant moving the eggs and everything out; there was lots of poop so we had to clean it.
Once my mom was done, she picked up the eggs but accidentally crushed one of them. We thought it was dead, so my mom threw it in the compost, but then I saw it's little head move. I panicked and ran to it, and we thought it was ready to hatch since it was moving. We decided to break the case it's in...we now know that that was the worst idea, but there was a little bit of blood and I was terrified that the chick might have a wound. My mom scoured the internet to figure out what we should do next as I held the poor baby and egg shell in my hand. The yolk was still attached to it, and it stopped moving and opening its mouth. My mom swears she saw it move, so we decided to follow instructions that we found that said to put the egg back together and use wax to hold it together. We then put it back under the hen.
Hopefully this won't happen again, but if it does at least we'll know to not break it open...but is our chick dead? Should we open it back up to check? We have no idea what to do...neither of us meant to hurt the poor baby, I've been crying since it happened. Any and all advice is welcome.
While the broody hen was out with her chicks, my mom decided to clean where she lays. This meant moving the eggs and everything out; there was lots of poop so we had to clean it.
Once my mom was done, she picked up the eggs but accidentally crushed one of them. We thought it was dead, so my mom threw it in the compost, but then I saw it's little head move. I panicked and ran to it, and we thought it was ready to hatch since it was moving. We decided to break the case it's in...we now know that that was the worst idea, but there was a little bit of blood and I was terrified that the chick might have a wound. My mom scoured the internet to figure out what we should do next as I held the poor baby and egg shell in my hand. The yolk was still attached to it, and it stopped moving and opening its mouth. My mom swears she saw it move, so we decided to follow instructions that we found that said to put the egg back together and use wax to hold it together. We then put it back under the hen.
Hopefully this won't happen again, but if it does at least we'll know to not break it open...but is our chick dead? Should we open it back up to check? We have no idea what to do...neither of us meant to hurt the poor baby, I've been crying since it happened. Any and all advice is welcome.
